Michael Cera: Man of many zip-up hoodies

Posted to Arts and Entertainment by David Teeghman at 10:51 p.m., Oct. 11, 2009

Noted zip-up hoodie aficionado Michael Cera is the star of the recently released movie “Paper Heart.” His acting skills have, yet again, proven to be about as diverse as his wardrobe.

Cera is the star of such hits as television series “Arrested Development,” and films such as “Juno” and “Superbad.”

The movie makes no difference, because Cera is exactly the same in each and every one: he is the pinnacle of whiteness, in all its pale, awkward, sexually frustrated glory. At age 21, he is stuck playing the exact same role he has been since he was 15 on “Arrested Development.”

Cera is not the first to be typecast. Adam Sandler is always the immature funnyman. The IQ of any Will Ferrell character hovers around that of your average KU graduate. Ryan Reynolds is always the coolest guy in a movie full of losers. And if Megan Fox lives to be anything but a pin-up, I promise to stop fantasizing about her every night (ha, my fingers were crossed!).

But at the very least, they are able to change outfits. Admittedly, Sandler is always wearing a shirt and Fox’s breasts love the spotlight, but at least they change their outfits somewhat.

When was the last time you saw Cera out of a zip-up hoodie? It might be the sexy scene in "Juno" when he had dirty, dirty sex with Juno. But he was naked, so that doesn’t count.

I counted at least four zip-up hoodies in “Paper Heart,” but I’m not willing to watch it again even for free online to get a number I know is 100 percent accurate.

Every actor who’s been typecast has shown some willingness to break out of the mold. I’m thinking of Ferrell in “Stranger than Fiction” or Sandler in “Punch Drunk Love.”

But Cera has shown no interest in playing anything but a horribly awkward and increasingly unfunny role. The act is getting old. When he first gained notoriety in 2003, he revolutionized the awkward humor genre. But ever since Judd Apatow and his army of awkward funny misfits (like Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd) came along, our hunger for awkward humor has been filled.

So to Michael Cera: either start being funny again, or go back to Canada, you weird little hipster.